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Brewer Marston’s has secured a major deal to provide drinks to rival Punch Taverns, the Burton-based pub operator.

The agreement will see Marston’s become the exclusive distributor for drinks to roughly 1,355 Punch Taverns pubs, the part of the latter company’s estate which is not being sold to Heineken. Heineken is buying approximately 1,900 pubs from Punch.

Chief executive Ralph Findlay said the deal was signed this month and would take effect from September.

Crucially, Marston’s will earn money from the deal even if all the Punch pubs decide to stock drinks made by other companies, although publicans will have the option to choose to sell one of the tipples made by the Wolverhampton-based...